Ch 18 - Sacrifical Lamb

**Daniel's POV**

We spent the rest of the night in each other's arms, smiling. It was a beautiful honeymoon on the sea, though it was mostly interrupted by our friends. So, I vowed that the coming Friday would be just E and me.

No interruptions.

Before we knew it, the weekend had ended, and it was a beautiful Sunday evening. We alighted from the ship and bid each other farewell.

It was just five minutes after we had left for our different homes, and I already missed her.

I missed her lips on mine, her body warmth, and the way her curves felt in my hands.

My wild thoughts were interrupted by a call.

It was my mother.

"Hey," I answered.

"Where are you?" she asked, sounding quite annoyed.

I wondered what was up.

"I'm almost home," I replied.

"How many minutes?"

"In like ten minutes…why?"

"Just be home soon," she said and then hung up.

Something was up.

"Mr. Collins, can you step on it? My parents are waiting," I told the driver who had come to pick me up.

"Sure thing, sir," he replied.

I arrived at my house in approximately eight minutes.

Carrying my backpack, I entered the house and headed to the living room, where my mom sat, seemingly deep in thought, and my father was talking with his assistant, Mr. Debo.

"Good evening, Dad. Good evening, Mom," I greeted as I approached the couch where my mom sat and gave her a peck.

She reluctantly smiled and whispered for me to sit.

"What's going on?" I asked. Something was definitely wrong, but what could it be?

"I'll send the revised version later. You may go," my dad said, dismissing Mr. Debo.

As he walked past me, I greeted him briefly with a nod, which he reciprocated.

Mr. Debo is a 40-year-old man from Africa, to be precise, Nigeria, I think. He has been working with us for years now, maybe 13 years. He is a very loyal man—not that friendly, but he's cool.

He's someone you'd want to do business with, competent and hardworking.

My dad and Mr. Debo usually talk for hours about work. I don't know how they do it because I would be totally bored if I had to talk about schoolwork for hours.

Today, it seemed that Mr. Debo and my parents had just arrived, but he was already leaving, which meant one thing: I'm in trouble.

What did I do this time? I went to all the shoots they signed me up for, and my schoolwork is going well, so what is the problem?

Except... they knew about what happened on the ship.

"What happened on that ship?" my dad asked, as if responding to my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Answer me, right now!" he growled. He was getting angry—or maybe he was already angry.

My mom left the couch and sat on the arm of the couch where my dad sat, hoping to calm him down.

"I don't understand. I just went with a few friends, that's all," I said, trying to sound neutral as I hid my anxiousness.

"Okay, then," my dad said. He pulled out his phone and showed me pictures and even videos of the proposal.

From the angle it was taken, it had to be someone who had easy access to the ship, like a waiter or something. And waiters on the Diamond ship do not dare video any of their guests, let alone send it to my parents.

I've used that ship for years. It was a gift from my parents on my 13th birthday because of my love for the sea, and it has been managed by my assistant since then—yeah, she's older, way older.

So, it was a private investigator then?

They hired someone to spy on me?

I knew they were overprotective and used me as they pleased, but I didn't know they would spy on me too.

I have to start covering my tracks well then. What if they find out about my other stuff?

I stood still, looking at the ground, shutting down my emotions.

"Cat got your tongue now, huh?" my dad asked, smirking.

"I gave you everything you wanted and let you do what you wanted, but this is what you want to do now, huh? You want to tarnish my image and the reputation your mother and I worked hard to build," he paused.

He stood up and started to unbuckle his belt. My mom just stood there with fear in her eyes, not daring to say anything, fearing that she would be the next scapegoat.

After he was done, he folded the belt and looked at the ground as he thought deeply.

"I'm going to give you two choices. You either get hit by this belt tonight, or you call that deceptive girl and tell her it was a joke. I'm sure you'll choose wisely," he said with a sense of arrogance.

I didn't even give it much thought.

"I'd rather…get hit," I said, still looking down.

My mom gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes even teary.

What a ridiculous offer he has suggested, I thought.

I'll admit, I'm obsessed with Evie. If she isn't mine, she isn't anyone's. She must be mine, and I will do anything for her to continue to be mine.

My dad chuckled, a hearty chuckle even. He thought I was joking.

After clearing his throat, he asked, "And why is that?"

"I'd rather die than call her and tell her my proposal was a lie," I said softly.

"Maybe you will die after I'm done then. Are you even thinking with your head? Can you hear yourself? Woman, talk to your son. I'm giving him a minute to decide," he said, facing my mother.

My mom moved closer to me and started begging me, probably because she was scared that he would injure me badly. Poor woman. What did she do to marry such a horrible man? She probably closed her eyes when she was looking for a husband.

Anyway, my mind was already set.

I went to a nearby couch and began to unbutton my shirt while my mom fell to the ground in tears.

I took off my shirt and placed it on the couch, then knelt down with my hands spread over one of the arms.

My dad was in disbelief. Never in his life have I rebelled so strongly against him.

Whenever he told me that he didn't like a friend of mine, probably because they were middle class or because their business would not benefit us, he would ask me to stop talking to the person, and I would.

The only opposite gender that he allowed to talk to me was Kyla, and I hated her. She was fake, plastic, and clingy. She had all the attributes that screamed red flag, someone to beware of. She slept with different men, claiming that she felt empty, which was why she did that.

I caught her one time making out with someone in her car when my dad asked me to drop by and give her a gift.

I almost thought she was raping the boy, but I saw the idiot smiling like a fool.

I knocked on the window, and she attempted to cover up, but it was too late.

She managed to use something to cover her breast, at least, and winded down.

I gave her the gift without saying anything, and for the rest of the week, I regretted not saying anything because she called the hell out of my life.

When I finally gave her an audience, she said she felt down, and that was why she was trying to forget it by sleeping with a guy twice her age. She was his sugar mama, I think.

I dismissed her and said I heard her and made sure to avoid anything that included her.

She must have told my dad that I was avoiding her because that was when he decided that my school needed to be changed, and wow, what a coincidence—it was her school.

My dad had been trying to pair me with her because he was best friends with her father, and her father's business was really booming.

He was probably planning that when we were done with high school, we would get engaged, and I'm sure I sensed his disappointment when he saw that video.

I am like a lamb that is willingly going to sacrifice itself. I don't care because all I care about now is my E.

Even if I have to lose everything.

I glanced over my shoulder to see my father continue to look at me with disbelief and disappointment. He was sure he had authority over me; he was sure he had me in his palm, so where, where did he go wrong?

His voice echoed in my head as he said, "I'm giving you 100 strokes. If you change your mind at any of those strokes, I'll stop. If you don't, I'll add another 50 strokes."

I thought about it as the suspense hung in the air.

But then my dad was disappointed for the nth time because I nodded to the punishment…